Tunes for Change

This is an interesting website I have just come across it is called Tunes for Change. The about section reads something like this:

TunesForChange.org is a registered not for-profit organisation that promotes peace, human-rights, free-speech, environmental sustainability, artistic-excellence, media accountability and responsibility, and physical and mental well-being for all! We offer much needed support to people from all walks of life and from every corner of the globe.


How??

1. 
Firstly, critically acclaimed, high-profile, and outstanding musicians donate a single song for download at TunesForChange.org. The songs are donated for a three month period only.

2.
 The songs donated are then compiled by the TunesForChange.org programmer into a seasonal album to download for a donation of one dollar or more, (it’s up to you how much you give for the album). There will be 4 x albums per year. Our first album launched on 28 March 2011.

3.
 Finally, at the end of every month, TunesForChange.org pays 100% of profits from the voluntary donations (from music-lovers like yourself), to a pre-selected charity. That's right -- every profit from every donation is donated to the selected charity. See the FAQ section for more detailed info.


Tunes For Change is a registered non-profit organisation and is a Public Company Limited by a Guarantee (Tunes For Change Ltd ABN 29 149 516 192).

Proceeds from the first album will go to assist with the Australian flood recovery with profits from the second seasons album going to The Seed fund. The site uses a pay what you want model and is well worth checking out.

Further Information
Tunes for Change < http://www.tunesforchange.org/ > at 29 March 2011

John Butler and The Seed

I wrote about this back in February. The categories for this year are:

• Management Workshop - 25x
• Publicise It - 3x grants of up to $5000
• Art for the Public - 1x grant of up to $5000
• SkinnyFish - $18,750 in performance fees for remote Indigenous musicians

If you are interested in any of these grants you can read more about applying here and here. Applications close Friday 8th April 2011 with successful applicants being notified by the 16th May 2011.

The latest on Limewire

Recent statistics suggest a drop in file sharing in the United States following the closure of Limewire. NPD report a drop from 16% in 2007 to just 9%. All this for something that should have been monetised from the start. TechDirt suggest quite rightly that the drop in file sharing is unlikely to correlate to an increase in music purchasing during the quarter with people likely to move to other services to get their music. Frostwire and BitTorrent remain viable alternatives and are likely to gain users over time.

This comes after a judge recently ruled that Limewire could not be held liable for statutory damages for each time a file was shared stating that this would lead to damages amounting to "more money than the entire music recording industry has made since Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877.”

Limewire has already settled its case with music publishers and it shouldn't be too long before a decision is made with respect to the damages for the recording industry. Limewire was seeking data from retailers such as Amazon and Apple to help establish the quantity of damages payable but so far it appears that this information has not been revealed.

Further Reading
TechDirt, Drop In P2P File Sharing Due To Limewire Shutdown A Pyrrhic Victory For The Recording Industry (25 March 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110324/16194713614/drop-p2p-file-sharing-due-to-limewire-shutdown-pyrrhic-victory-recording-industry.shtml > at 26 March 2011

ZeroPaid, Post LimeWire, P2P Usage Plummets 50%! (24 March 2011) < http://www.zeropaid.com/news/92907/post-limewire-p2p-usage-plummets-50/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zeropaid+%28Zeropaid+File+Sharing+P2P+News%29 > at 26 March 2011

ZeroPaid, Judge to RIAA: Limewire Liable for Billions Not Trillions (11 March 2011) < http://www.zeropaid.com/news/92783/judge-to-riaa-limewire-liable-for-billions-not-trillions/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zeropaid+%28Zeropaid+File+Sharing+P2P+News%29 > at 14 March 2011

TechDirt, Judge Rejects RIAA's Attempt To Claim 'Trillions' In Damages From Limewire (11 March 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110311/06521713462/judge-rejects-riaas-attempt-to-claim-trillions-damages-limewire.shtml > at 14 March 2011

ZeroPaid, LimeWire Settles Music Publishers Case, Still Faces Labels (10 March 2011) < http://www.zeropaid.com/news/92763/limewire-settles-music-publishers-case-still-faces-labels/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zeropaid+%28Zeropaid+File+Sharing+P2P+News%29 > at 11 March 2011

ArsTechnica, LimeWire seeks data from Amazon in bid to avoid big payout to RIAA (3 January 2011) <http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/01/limewire-seeks-data-from-amazon-in-bid-to-avoid-big-payout-to-riaa.ars> at 18 January 2011

ZeroPaid, LimeWire Wants Data From Amazon, Apple to Determine RIAA Payout (4 January 2011) < http://www.zeropaid.com/news/91849/limewire-wants-data-from-amazon-apple-to-determine-riaa-payout/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zeropaid+%28Zeropaid+File+Sharing+P2P+News%29 > at 17 January 2011

TechDirt, Limewire Seeking All The Recording Industry's Secrets (4 January 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110104/02223912507/limewire-seeking-all-recording-industrys-secrets.shtml > at 17 January 2011

EFF on file sharing

The EFF have a new post out about two recent reports that highlight the fact that the music industry is growing in the digital environment and that the recording industry should not blame file sharing as the sole cause of losses. This is an interesting read and worth a moment to take a look at.

Further Reading
EFF Deeplinks, It’s Time for the Recording Industry to Stop Blaming "Piracy" and Start Finding A New Way (25 March 2011) < https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/it-s-time-recording-industry-stop-blaming-piracy > at 26 March 2011

Mimi & Eunice

Available here.

Sound Cloud

I have just read on Techdirt that apparently Sound Cloud has a content filter installed on it blocking people from uploading infringing works. I was unaware of this when I wrote about the site recently. This makes some difference to their potential liability for copyright infringement depending on whether the filter is effective or not. I wonder if there have been DMCA take down notices since the filter was first installed or whether it does the job. As Techdirt points out filters are unable to detect fair use or fair dealing and the likely outcome is that much more content is blocked than needs to be. It is such a shame that these types of tactics are necessary in the digital age when much creativity depends on building on the works of others. I guess the site however is far more likely to be around in the long run which is good news.

Further Reading
TechDirt, How Copyright Filters Present A Serious Challenge To DJ Culture (21 March 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/blog.php?d=21&m=3&y=2011> at 25 March 2011

TechDirt, Permission Culture And The Automated Diminishment Of Fair Use (27 December 2010) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101227/09520712421/permission-culture-automated-diminishment-fair-use.shtml > at 25 March 2011

Mimi and Eunice

Available here.

WIPO Director General Addresses the Future of Copyright

Francis Gurry on the future of copyright policy and the need to take an active role in seeking a balance in the digital environment rather than seek to resist technological change. Hosted by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation and the QUT Faculty of Law’s Intellectual Property: Knowledge, Culture, Economy in Sydney, 25 February 2011.

Professor Lawrence Lessig's keynote speech to WIPO conference

Lessig's keynote speech to WIPO conference November 2010

US Copyright Changes

I have been reading about some proposed changes to US copyright law and though to mention them here.

The first is the introduction of a performance royalty right for music played on the radio. At present many countries including Australia pay both the composer and the recording artist a royalty each time a song is played on radio. When I was presenting my radio show a few years ago I was required to complete a log each time I was on air so that the appropriate records were available for reporting what songs were played. In the US this has never been the case. Until now only the composer of the song or more accurately the holder of the publishing rights has received payment. Radio stations in the USA while in the past have been happy to take kick backs from record labels in exchange for playing songs on the radio, have resisted paying a royalty to recording artists - or more accurately the copyright holder of the recording (usually a record label). Their argument has been that radio serves as a promotional vehicle for the artists music and therefore they should not be required to pay a royalty. As ArsTechnica points out this means also that as many countries rely on reciprocal copyright arrangements, it is often the case that American artists dont get paid a royalty in other countries because US radio stations dont pay a royalty to overseas artists either. This looks like it is about to change. I personally dont have a problem with recording artists receiving a royalty for air play - it has long been the case in Australia and our radio stations appear to cope okay - it does matter what the rate is and this could be a point of much ongoing tension with constant pressure to increase or decrease it.

The second change, and one that I am a little more concerned about, is the decision to make illegal streaming of content a felony offense. I wonder where this leaves many YouTube users and facebook sharers. This could potentially open up everyday activities to criminal prosecution instead of civil liability. Furthermore it presents as a potential drain on the public purse with law enforcement agencies being required to investigate, charge and participate in prosecution. I am not sure whether there is a commercial scale infringement requirement in the scheme but the reading I have done so far suggests that it is open to all illegal streaming. While fan based streaming can on the odd occasion detract from what a band is seeking to achieve, for the most part it is positive promotion for an artist with many uploads to YouTube left up for others to see without artists exercising their DMCA take down options. It seems to me that this is dangerous territory for the average person and one likely to detract from the positive uses of the internet. I hope this law is not passed in a hurry.

Further Reading
ArsTechnica, Obama "IP czar" wants felony charges for illegal Web streaming (15 March 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/03/obama-ip-czar-wants-felony-charges-for-illegal-web-streaming.ars > at 17 March 2011

ZeroPaid, Obama Admin Wants to Make Illegal Streaming a Felony (15 March 2011) < http://www.zeropaid.com/news/92831/obama-admin-wants-to-make-illegal-streaming-a-felony/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zeropaid+%28Zeropaid+File+Sharing+P2P+News%29 > at 17 March 2011

TechDirt, Administration's New IP Enforcement Recommendations Will Only Serve To Make IP Less Respected (15 March 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110315/08424413499/administrations-new-ip-enforcement-recommendations-will-only-serve-to-make-ip-less-respected.shtml > at 17 March 2011

Digital Music News, Obama Officially Backs Performance Radio Royalties... (16 March 2011) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/031511whitehouse > at 17 March 2011

SoudCloud

I mentioned SoundCloud the other day in passing and thought to write a little more about it.

So what is it?
SoundCloud is a recording and sharing site for musicians. It has the ability to record tracks and keep them on the site for others to hear. There is also a comments function that allows mid song comments by listeners. It has a community focus as well with sharing functions allowing listeners to spread a recording through sites such as facebook, twitter, MySpace as well as via email. Artists can attend meetups where groups of SoundClouders can get together to share tips and socialise with others that use the software. According to wikipedia it has been around since 2007 and the fact that I have only just heard of it suggests that its popularity has primarily been among artists rather than music fans to date - in May 2010 it surpassed 1 million subscribers.

What are the legal implications?
Provided the site complies with take down notices there should be no other legal consequences than for any other website. The site does have sharing at its core and it is possible to upload other people's music but there is a clear intention to provide something other than file sharing. The central objectives of the site are to establish community connections between artists and fans... it will be a question of time and how often infringing files are found before we find out whether this site survives the legal issues that so often complicate the sharing of music on the internet.

More Information
SoundCloud < http://soundcloud.com/ > at 13 March 2011

Wikipedia, Sound Cloud (7 March 2011) < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoundCloud > at 13 March 2011

GURRUMUL & BLUE KING BROWN Gathu Mawula Revisited

The latest from Blue King Brown appearing with Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu in 'Gathu Mawula Revisited'

The Herd

One of my favorite Australian hip hop groups The Herd have just released their new single using a 'pay what you want' model. The song is available here and is the precursor to their new album due to drop in the middle of the year. According to facebook someone paid them $8 for the single - way above the recommended price of $1.00 and the minimum price of $0.10.

You can also hear the song on SoundCloud (funny I have been thinking about writing about SoundCloud) - here.

Save the Date - Defective by Design

From the Defective by Design email:

"May 4th will be the third annual international Day Against DRM!

The Day Against DRM is an opportunity to unite a wide range of projects, public interest organizations, web sites and individuals in an effort to raise public awareness to the danger of technology that requires users to give-up control of their computers or that restricts access to digital data and media. This year, we'll be helping individuals and groups work together to create local actions in their communities -- actions will range from protesting an unfriendly hardware vendor to handing out informative fliers at local public libraries!

DefectiveByDesign.org wants to help you plan or get involved in local actions and then broadcast your stories globally.

If you are interested in taking part in this year's Day Against DRM, sign-up to our 2011 Day Against DRM mailing list:" https://crm.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?gid=28&reset=1

One year I went to my university library and put up posters about DRM on digital books - let me know if you are planning something and I will repost it for you here.

Save the Kimberley

This weeks effort is to write introductions for the bands/artists The John Butler Trio, The Herd, Blue King Brown, Ben Harper, Ani Di Franco and Anne Feeney without contacting them and without looking at their Wikipedia page - wish me luck - after that I have to find out who wrote the lyrics to some of their songs without access to the most direct sources of information - again luck will be needed as I purchased many of the tracks digitally and dont have the liner notes from the CDs. Now would be a great time to have a centralised database of all artists and songs that is available to the general public. Gracenote simply wont provide me with the details I need.

Speaking of the John Butler Trio - they are auctioning off a signed guitar to help raise money for the Save the Kimberley Campaign - its great to see JBT still so heavily involved in activism. You can find out more information about the campaign here and here.

Woody Guthrie

I hate a song that makes you think that you're not any good. I hate a song that makes you think you're just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are either too old or too young or too fat or too thin or too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or songs that poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or your hard traveling.
I am out to fight these kinds of songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter how hard it's run you down, and rolled over your, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built; I am out to sing songs that will make you take pride in yourself. Woody Guthrie, 1947

Further Reading
Robbie Lieberman, My Song is My Weapon: People's Songs, American Communism, and the Politics of Culture 1930-1950 (1st ed., 1989)

Mimi and Eunice ...again...

Available here.

Acting in Concert Part 3

Further to my recent posts about the text Acting in Concert: Music, Community and Political Action Mark Mattern goes on in Chapter 2 to discuss popular music, political action and power.

He starts by outlining three ways in which acting in concert can take place – confrontationally, deliberatively and pragmatically. I am particularly interested in the confrontational form of acting in concert and with respect to this he writes:

A confrontational form of acting in concert occurs when members of one community use musical practices to resist or oppose another community. Music helps assert the claims of the community, which are believed to stand in direction opposition to the claims of others... Community members use this confrontational form of acting in concert to enlist sympathy and support for the claims of their community, to draw attention to their concerns, and to assure that the interests of the community take precedence over the interests of other communities. This form of acting in concert has a potentially positive role to play in a democratic politics as a way of enlisting support for the political agenda of a particular community, for publicizing a political issue, for drawing citizens into active participation in the public life of a community, and for galvanizing action on specific issues [pg 25].

The example that he gives is protest music [pg25]. Here:

there is an implicit effort to create enduring ties among individuals who share commitment to a particular issue or cause. Typically, the intent of protest musicians is to oppose the exploitation and oppression exercised by dominant elites and members of dominant groups. Musicians typically couch their music in confrontational terms that draw sharp distinctions between the perceived forces of right and wrong [pg 26].

The second form of acting in concert uses music as a medium for negotiating differences within a community [pg 28]. Mattern refers to the dialogue of female rap musicians as an example [pg 29].

The third form of acting in concert is the pragmatic form where music is used to promote shared interests and collaborative efforts to address issues [pg 30]. The environmental statements made by Sting are given as one example of this form of acting in concert [pg 31]. He notes however that these forms are not mutually exclusive and that in practice they overlap [pg 31].

These forms of acting in concert take place in a myriad of settings not restricted to town halls or party headquarters on election night but including dance and concert halls and social spaces wherever music is produced and consumed [pg 31 – 32]. They do however share a common element and that is some form of social criticism [pg 32].

Mattern then goes on to explore popular music and power and notes the differences between ‘power over’ and ‘power to’ in the question of how actual social change is produced [pg 32].

Power, like community is a much debated term. A common, although by no means simple or uncontested, distinction is between “power over” and “power to”, referring to a sense of power as domination and constraint on the one hand, and power as a positive capacity on the other hand. Power as domination refers to inegalitarian social relations based on differences of class, gender, race, and ethnicity in which certain individuals or groups control, in varying egrees and ways, other individuals or groups... Power as capacity refers to the skills and resources that enable critical choice and successful action by individuals or groups. Here, power represents the means of overcoming barriers to political participation and democratic change... power as capacity refers to an ability to critically formulate and attain goals [pg 32 -33].

He notes that the psychological function of popular music in which a sense of solidarity and unity is produced does not of itself create social change [pg 33 – 34]. However music can be a powerful tool when connected to the means for social change which include access to votes, money and politicians [pg 36].

Further Reading
Mark Mattern, Acting in Concert: Music, Community and Political Action (1998) < http://www.amazon.com/Acting-Concert-Community-Political-Action/dp/0813524849/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298511593&sr=8-1 > at 24 February 2011

Mimi and Eunice

Available here.

Acting in Concert Part 2

In the second part of chapter 1 Mattern goes on to examine the relationship between popular music and community. He starts by writing about the reception of music:

The text of popular music – its structure, sound, and lyrical content – is surely an important dimension to address in considering its politics. The text is rich with social meaning and can be analysed in terms of what it reveals about a social context. But the politics of popular music are not limited to this text. Popular music operates within a social context that also includes the people and sites directly and indirectly involved in its production, consumption, and use. In other words, the political work of a piece of music also occurs in the multiple ways that people use it and in the ways that it circulates in a context. The wider context of reception and use defines a communicative arena in which meanings are created, shared, negotiated, and changed and in which various individuals and groups appropriate music for different ends. [Pg 15-16]

Music extends to social practices which become imbedded in people’s lives [pg 16]. These can then become linked to social movements which inturn develop human identity and support the formation of a community [pg 16]. Identity is formed through our interaction with our social environment [pg 16]. Music captures past experiences and allows us to live through them by forming a common memory [pg 17].

Mattern states that it is both the lyrics and the sound that communicate meaning:

This idea is most evident in musical lyrics which readily express memories, histories, emotions, political ideologies and ideas. Music however, communicates through sound as well... Moreover, music provides a communicative medium that is not simply an alternative way to say the same things that humans say through speech. Music, like other art forms, can express meanings that are not accessible through words or express them in ways that give listeners more immediate access to emotions and ideas [pg 17].

The directly physical experience of music leads to the sharing of deeper meanings [pg 17]. It is therefore a potent form of communication that acts as an historical record [pg 18]. When an artist composes music they draw from the social environment around them and therefore music forms not just the memory of the individual but a memory of the community as music reflects a communal experience [pg 18]. It becomes part of the group identity not just that of the individual and reinforces the meaning of group life [pg 19]. Music also helps to distinguish between groups and individuals because it can be non inclusive – not everyone fits into the group or identifies with the music [pg 19]. Interpretation can lead to disagreements about meaning and this highlights the limits of music’s ability to communicate [pg 20]. Music can create differences and separate one community from another as well as bring forward differences within a community [pg 21].

Commercial rock and pop music have a homogenising effect however a diversity of music co-exists with these forms [pg 22]. Experiences of a range of music may make us more tolerant of others and may educate those not within the group about the issues that are raised in song [pg 22].

Mattern writes, ultimately:

Whether the links between music and community result in democratic outcomes depends on specific social circumstances... The work that music accomplishes within and between communities depends on strategic use of political action and power – on the variable capacity of different individuals and groups to control musical production, meaning, and use.


Further Reading
Mark Mattern, Acting in Concert: Music, Community and Political Action (1998) < http://www.amazon.com/Acting-Concert-Community-Political-Action/dp/0813524849/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298511593&sr=8-1 > at 24 February 2011